Edinburgh News: theatre

"There's an awful lot of tech on that set."
First impressions set up expectations which may or may not be disappointed. Pornography is a play in a form the late Osbert Lancaster, had he cartooned theatrical
styles rather than architectural ones, might have described as "Birmingham
fragmented" - a number of story lines concerning one or more characters are
driven toward a central point of encounter in the course of which resolution
occurs.

Historians will tell you what we know of
the past comes largely from lucky finds; Cameron Stewart's re-discovery of his
grandfather's diaries from the First World War and his publication of them in "real time" on the web and on BBC Radio 4 in
the Today programme have made an invaluable contribution to people's
understanding of that conflict and the motives of those who fought in it. No great
surprise, then, to find Baby Belly 1 a nearly full house for Stewart's
presentation of Captain Stewart and his experiences.

I know it’s unworthy, but the first thing I thought when I
walked into the Traverse 2 to see this 100-minute-long one-man show was, "Well,
at least they’ve got rid of those awful foam benches and put in some proper
seats." I can assure you now, though, that even sitting on a cushion made from
six-inch nails, I would still have been eager to see as much as they wanted to
give me of such utterly mesmerising, faultless theatre.

Crossing the River Jordan focuses on three stories involving Palestinian confrontation with Israeli guards at this particular checkpoint where sixty years ago, fifty thousand Palestinians were forced to leave their homes after the State of Israel was formed. The show is an important reminder of the continuing sense of disempowerment felt by Palestinians, but it is also poignantly reminiscent of the Jews' plight in Nazi Germany.

Billy Connolly has been very open about it. The late John Peel included his own experience in his uncompleted memoirs. Red top newspapers flourish on tales of its occurrence up and down the land. We all want it to stop, and perhaps secretly wish it could simply vanish like a disease for which a vaccine has been found. Child abuse, as we somewhat coyly refer to the horrors perpetrated by otherwise 'decent' people, continues.

They've nearly all finished by now, and a number of venues have already opened for at least preview business. 'They' are the folk who actually make the Fringe and all the other festivals happen in Edinburgh in August - the 'tech crews' as they're generally known.